Company mergers tend to spread employees to the four winds. A handful will be picked up by the new company, while others will take early retirement or be forced to find pastures new. Usually only a few friendships survive the stress and upheaval of such times, however British Caledonian (BCal) bucks that trend, continuing to be much more of a family than a now-defunct airline.
Almost four decades since the ‘second force’ carrier was swallowed up by British Airways (BA), more than 1,000 ex-BCal staff keep in touch through a website – www.british-caledonian.com – and several Facebook groups, as well as a fortnightly newsletter run by Dave Thaxter, son of a former BCal engineer.
Among the cast of thousands still in touch with one another were Richard Heywood, who spent 16 years with BCal in a variety of roles, and the late Laurie Price, the airline’s youngest general manager, who had also worked in planning, BCal Aircraft Trading, was responsible for government affairs and had conceived, developed and run the Airlink helicopter transfer operation between Gatwick and Heathrow. When Richard gained his private pilot’s licence (PPL) in April 2006, the two often went flying together in a rented Piper PA-28 Cherokee Archer.
Richard re…
